


You're Even Crazier Than I Am

by plaguehaver



Category: Devilman
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, And original Akira, Character Practice, Interpret this as Crybaby Ryo, Just wrote this on a whim, M/M, Mutual psychological evaluations, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-02 22:54:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13328136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plaguehaver/pseuds/plaguehaver
Summary: In every society, there are certain societal rules that are obediently followed by nearly all of the population. Don’t stare too long at someone. Don’t “overshare.” Don’t keep talking if people begin to seem uninterested or weirded out. Generally, don’t be a so-called “creep.” There are many more of these rules that exist silently, but Ryo Asuka still seemed to be aware of none of them.After enough tall tales, the general public seemed to take the hint that Asuka wasn’t going to give up his true identity anytime soon, and the novelty of the whole situation wore away. Everyone returned to their daily mediocrity, finding other drama to occupy themselves with. Or, well, almost everyone. Akira Fudo still had some sort of death wish, or something.





	You're Even Crazier Than I Am

**Author's Note:**

> This was just a "I need to get back into the habit of writing even if it's short fanfics that have no context and make no sense" piece. I kinda liked crybaby ryo and original akira better so that's kinda how I wrote their characters.

In every society, there are certain societal rules that are obediently followed by nearly all of the population. Don’t stare too long at someone. Don’t “overshare.” Don’t keep talking if people begin to seem uninterested or weirded out. Generally, don’t be a so-called “creep.” There are many more of these rules that exist silently, but Ryo Asuka still seemed to be aware of none of them. People had tried to tell him before. That he should stop talking crazy. He should stop being a weirdo. He should maybe just shut up for once, couldn’t he tell when he went too far? The truth was that Ryo Asuka was completely aware and in understanding of all of these quote-unquote “rules.” He just made the well-thought-out and rational decision not to follow them. 

As a recent transfer student, this should’ve signified the nail in the coffin in his undebatable social death. High school had never exactly been a forgiving place. But then again, Ryo Asuka continued not to care, and somehow, things still managed to carry on. Curious classmates would try to pick at his brain, but he had always been good at reading people’s intentions, and would shut them down before they could get anywhere. Everyone seemed to want to know about him, where he had come from, what his life was like. Frustrated with the lack of information, they began to make up their own stories. Numerous wild accounts of his life before he had come to that high school flew around from person to person. Eventually, he became fascinated with the frivolity of it all. Everyone just wanted a new, fresh piece of gossip to chew on for a while and distract them from their own miserable lives, so, reputation be damned, Ryo would give it to them. Every time someone asked about his mysterious past, he would carefully deliver a far-fetched but just-close-enough-to-reality story that would shock and stun everyone within earshot. By the next day, or even by the next hour, the story would’ve been flipped on its head completely, but for the longest time, the students ate it up voraciously. After enough tall tales, the general public seemed to take the hint that Asuka wasn’t going to give up his true identity anytime soon, and the novelty of the whole situation wore away. Everyone returned to their daily mediocrity, finding other drama to occupy themselves with. Or, well, _almost_ everyone. 

Akira Fudo still had some sort of death wish, or something. He hadn’t taken interest in Ryo at the same time that everyone else had since he wasn’t that “in” with the other students. It was a fateful seating arrangement and a physics class that had brought the boy’s attention to Ryo. Asuka had always been able to work on multiple things at once, getting five times the work done of a regular high schooler. Akira, however, had a knack for biting off more than he could chew. He should’ve known that the college-level physics course would be too much for him. He struggled to get through nearly every assignment that was given to him. Especially when Ryo sat right there next to him. Akira swore something about the boy was supernatural. He was so enthralling; shocking and graceful at the same time. It was Ryo’s utter disregard for social expectations that made him so interesting. On paper, Asuka didn’t look like a rebel by any means. An overachiever at heart, he was always soaring past his peers without the help of a single one of them. He had a perfect record, so who would expect him to seem this… _badass_ in person?

Ryo obeyed the school rules, of course. Why would he go around attracting unwanted trouble? It would just make everything harder for himself. But inside of those weak parameters, Ryo just seemed to do whatever he wanted. In class, he would breeze through assignments, finishing in minutes, and then pull out a laptop and work on whatever other “work” a teenager like him could possibly have. At first, the teachers tried to stop him, thought he was goofing off or participating in “illicit activities.” Every time that happened, though, he would just calmly explain that he had already finished the required work. Teachers allowed them to work on “other assignments,” so why was that a problem? Turns out that it wasn’t. Turns out that the teachers were just as intimidated by Asuka as anyone else. Except for, again, Akira Fudo.

“Hey,” a voice had said one day. “Hey, Ryo.” Ryo snapped out of whatever zone he was in. This kid was talking to _him_. That never happened anymore.

“What,” he asked, voice conveying his irritation.

“What are you working on?” Akira Fudo leaned over to glance at his laptop screen. “You’re typing really fast.”

“I’m writing an email to someone.” 

“Who?”

“Someone important.” This was a strange interaction for Ryo. It came with none of the mutual tensity that seemed to permeate most of his conversations. That was new. That was _threatening_. “Why do _you_ want to know, anyways?” Akira made a noise that could be interpreted as either a lighthearted laugh or a barely-disguised scoff. At that point, Ryo wasn’t sure which he took it as. 

“I was just curious. You know, if you’re that good at school, you could just take online classes and graduate early. At the rate you’re going, I bet you could be in _real_ college by now.” Ryo glanced at the boy out of the corner of his eye, but Akira wasn’t even looking at him.

“I’m too busy for that.”

“Oh, right. Too busy writing emails to important people, I gotcha.” Something about this made Ryo’s skin prickle. Maybe it was the way condescension was woven into his statement so carelessly. No one had ever been condescending towards Ryo. Regardless, he shook off Akira’s words and went back to his work. He had papers that needed credibility, and he had emails to write to the people that may or may not share theirs. He wasn’t going to let some kid bother him. Asuka would continue to think of Akira Fudo and many of the rest of his classmates as kids, despite the fact that they were the same age as him. No one had ever been condescending towards Ryo because he was too busy being the condescending one.

Akira’s strange, prying questions continued day after day. Every day he would come in with a new query about Ryo. Did he have any friends? Was he in any clubs at the school? Outside of the school? Did he listen to music? Did he spend most of his time on his own? Did he enjoy doing whatever work he did on his laptop? Would he ever want to hang out one afternoon? What did he do with his weekends? How did the email to the “important person” go? His curiosity never seemed to be quenched.

One day, when the bell rang, Ryo packed up his things and left the class, his feet on autopilot towards his next destination. His thoughts were in some other place, not on the cramped, low-ceilinged hallways of high school and not on the boy following behind him and dodging all the taller kids to try and take a spot next to the mystery man of the hour. That’s why it came as such a shock to him when Akira Fudo’s left shoulder knocked into Ryo’s right. Once again, the kid, only a few inches shorter than him, snapped him out of an important thought pattern. Who did this kid think he was?

“What is it?” Ryo tried his best not to snap at his classmate, but did it anyways. 

“You’re crazy, you know.” Ryo stared at him, but Akira was more focused on not getting run over by any of the bigger students. 

“Yeah? How so?” Akira put a hand on his arm so they wouldn’t get separated.

“You’re smart, you’ve got to know all of these little things you shouldn’t be doing. Not the illegal stuff but the annoying stuff. If you need to do something, you kinda just...do it. You’re crazy.” Ryo scoffed.

“I fail to see how this makes me _crazy_.” Akira’s body jostled him again as he dodged someone throwing a punch at another kid. 

“You don’t care about any negative social repercussions your actions could have here. You don’t care about making a good impression, or making friends, or making any of the people here happy. And you know what? I know _exactly_ why you don’t care.” Now, Akira was staring him directly in the eyes. 

“Oh yeah? And why’s that?” Ryo reached the destination of his next class, causing Akira to stop and stand there facing him. He smiled, and it was the kind of smile one wears when they’ve won a game of chess, or when they’ve got a draw four card in their hand while playing uno.

“You don’t see us as equals.” There it was. The words that told Ryo he had finally met his match, in more ways than one. “I don’t know if it’s arrogance, or just plain blindness that you’re seeing the school through, but you don’t think anyone in this school is your equal. So of course you’re not trying to impress them or make connections with them. You think they’re below you, that there’s nothing you can gain from talking to them. All of those people on your computer are the ones you think are like you. Right, Ryo? Those are the ones you’re trying to impress, the ‘important people.’ So, am I right, or am I right?” Akira stared at him, smile on his face for a few moments before the bell rang. Ryo broke eye contact, and his lips cracked some sort of half-smile.

“Akira Fudo…” Akira’s smile fell from his face as Ryo shook his head. His bright eyes flicked back to the boy in front of him, and his smile finally showed some teeth. It wasn’t a _real_ smile, per say, but it was closer to one than anyone in that school had ever seen him get. “Akira Fudo...” Akira’s smile came back. He knew he had won whatever little game they had been playing.

“I...I gotta go.” Akira pointed back in the direction from which they had came. “My class is actually that way. See you around!” He jogged down the hall, getting yelled at by the security guards for being so late. The door to Ryo’s class was right next to him, but he hesitated to go in, instead watching as the other boy disappeared down the corridor. His next words were barely a whisper, more of a breath that barely made it past his lips.

“ _Akira Fudo...You’re even crazier than I am._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is [@plague-haver](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/plague-haver) if you wanna see more bullshit


End file.
